What is the ideal tomato for pizza? Universal Judgment

2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:20

Before certain pizzas cut into wedges took over, before long-leavening doughs topped with raw Mazara prawns and expensive as jewels, before the so-called gourmet pizza gained the general attention, our lives were made of gestures simple, there were still the four seasons and some evenings began like this: margherita or marinara?

You ordered a capricciosa and you felt almost transgressive.

Now the pizza fanatic can play the tomato cultivar wheel: corbarini, Serbian cherry tomatoes, yellow datterini, black tomatoes.

And while juggling between a Presidium and a PDO, he loses sight of the imperative question: which tomato to dress the pizza margherita with?

The Last Judgment, the Dissapore column that selects the best of specialized delicatessens, observes, smells and tastes for you, takes care of putting order in the chaos.

I save the support, arms, head and oven of Gennaro Coppeta, frontman of the Pizzeria Resilienza in Salerno, as well as Dissapore approved.

Because we put the tomatoes and the belly in it, but he did the real show.

These are the protagonists of our test, presented blindly, and in this order:

Gustarosso San Marzano DOP from Agro Sarnese-Nocerino 1, 70 euros / 400g

Gustarosso 100% Italian Organic Peeled Tomatoes 3, 30 euro / 2650gr

Agrigenus San Marzano PDO 1, 30 euros / 400g

Miracle of San Gennaro San Marzano 3, 80 euros / 530g

Casa Barone, Traditional Preserves of Piennolo Tomatoes from Vesuvius 5.90 euros / 52’g

Peels of Tomato, Ancient Preserve of Tomato Piennolo del Vesuvio DOP 3, 25 / 400g

The Flavors of Corbara, Corbarino in juice 2, 00 euro / 400g

Grangusto Red Datterino in juice 1, 75 euros / 400g

As is yellow Datterino in juice 2, 25 euros / 350g

As is Pizzutello tomato peeled in juice 2, 10 euros / 540g

Campisi, Preserves of Pachino PGI 1, 80 euros / 330g

Giolì Piennolo tomatoes from Vesuvius Dop Slow Food Presidium 1 pack from 1, 5 kg / 15, 00 euros

Alert: we advise you to read the post on a strictly full stomach.

PARADISE

Gustarosso San Marzano DOP from Agro Sarnese-Nocerino

It works so much that it seems physiological to ask whether he was born first or the pizza itself.

The scent is one of those that dig into the memory, the distances with the Pongo tomatoes piled on the supermarket counters are sidereal.

It may be due to the special touch of certain farmers, "the tomato grown by Italian grandparents" is the company's slogan, but the San Marzano Gustarosso beats all the other contenders.

The true and marked acidity cleanses the greasiness of the mozzarella, stimulates appetite and salivation, and the dazed brain can only formulate simple propositions (Again!).

Agrigenus San Marzano PDO

Other San Marzano, peeled tomato according to the dictates of AVPN (Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana).

Those of Agrigenus, hand-picked and boxed one by one, have a marked vegetable note, balanced acidity and freshness.

For palates devoted to softcore, they are flawless on pizza, as well as having an unrivaled quality-price ratio.

Casa Barone, Traditional Preserves of Piennolo Tomatoes from Vesuvius

Cut in half and studded with bright, deep red seeds, preserved by an aromatic, tenacious peel that can be chewed.

The acidity of the integument dampened by the sweetness of the pulp and the aromaticity of the juices makes it the ideal complement for a margherita pizza for lacrimoni.

As is yellow Datterino in juice

It is the tomato for extreme palates, it is carally loved or hated.

We loved it so much, there is someone in the editorial office who has developed an incurable monomania and built a home vault just for them.

Very sweet, juicy, the skin is thin and the caramelized sugar finish, with mozzarella and basil arouses the typical euphoria of certain soft drugs.

As is Pizzutello tomato peeled in juice

Niche tomato, at least among pizza makers, pointed apex and cultivation in tunnels or in open fields.

The persistence, harmonious between sour and sugary, manages to stand out on the blanket of mozzarella, remains compact despite the high temperatures and compliant to the bite.

PURGATORY

The Flavors of Corbara, Corbarino in juice

It is a pectin bomb, the essential ingredient for scarpariello, explosive in the juice and bitter on the finish.

Sin is crushed and inhibited by the fatty note of mozzarella, not very persistent, it does not impose itself on the rest of the ingredients.

Marinara, maybe?

Giolì Piennolo tomatoes from Vesuvius Dop Slow Food Presidium

Angelo Di Giacomo's company, located in the Vesuvius National Park, produces (also in the yellow variant) by putting into practice an ancient conservation technique.

The ripe cherry tomatoes are tied together in small groups (the "scocche") to form a large cluster, then suspended in airy rooms and stored until the following spring.

The Giolì tomato does not lose freshness, even among the waves of mozzarella, it smells of cut grass and the bitterness of the peel plays up and down with the sweetness of the pulp.

It redeems itself with the addition of a pinch of salt, perhaps more suitable for another type of pizza.

Peels of Tomato, Ancient Preserve of Tomato Piennolo del Vesuvio DOP

The umami exists, it fights with us in this tomato.

The almost crunchy peel and glutamic acid (and its salts) make us palpitate quite a bit.

Not bad for Massimo Duraccio's company born only a year ago, see you at the next candle.

Miracle of San Gennaro San Marzano

It had already been talked about on Dissapore, with enthusiastic tones.

The tomato that Sabato Abagnale processes raw (canned with tomato sauce cooked at 70 ° C for five minutes and sterilized in a bain-marie) is certainly tasty but too delicate, easily dominated by the ingredients of that round masterpiece, also known as pizza.

Gustarosso 100% Italian organic peeled tomato

Molise does exist, and this tomato proves it.

A good product, certainly more lovable than San Marzano DOP, but less intense and convincing.

I felt a slight tingling from refermentation during tasting, perhaps due to a defect in the individual can.

HELL

Grangusto Red Datterino in juice

If the blond brother has rightfully entered our very personal pantheon of apples, the purple variant is cloying, dull, forgettable.

Can be saved with the addition of a goat cheese (perhaps).

Campisi, Preserves of Pachino PGI

We wanted to spice things up with a Sicilian share of Pachino IGP flavor, but the sauce contained in the amber and vintage bottle fails the test miserably.

"It looks like ketchup", I really felt it, the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes is engulfed and buried even by the harmless basil leaf.

When you are practicing pizza chefs and maniacs of the cornice, that moment is approaching when you empty the pantries and tell us how things really are, in your opinion.

We apologize for the gallery forbidden to minors, and we hope that your trusted pizzeria will also be open on Mondays.